Nick Lissette (Black Pearl Group)
NZX-listed data platform company Black Pearl Group has released its first financial results to the NZX after listing in December.
The company, which told shareholders on Monday it had raised around $1.8 million through a placement, reported revenue for the year to 31 March of $1.6 million and a net loss of $7.3 million.
"The 2023 financial year was underpinned by purposeful investments in acquisition, technology, and a public listing, all paving the way for the company's accelerated path to profitability," the company said.
Black Pearl recorded $1.4 million in recurring revenue for the year, representing a 97 per cent growth compared to 2022. However, that only included five months of revenue from email signature management company NewOldStamp which Black Pearl bought on 1 November, 2022.
Black Pearl is chaired by Tim Crown a co-founder of Nasdaq-listed Fortune 500 company Insight Enterprises, and led by founder and chief executive Nick Lissette.
2023 expenditure included $1.1 million of one-off costs associated with the acquisition of New Old Stamp and Black Pearl's direct listing on the NZX, as well as R&D to create the company's new "Pearl Diver" SaaS product.
Pearl Diver showed businesses the individuals that are visiting their websites, including the visitor's name, contact numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, job information and more.
Black Pearl said it had gained improved access to new data sets to enable the rapid creation of new features and products.
Pearl Diver was a direct result of accessing these streams and over a decade of experience in data and digital engagement, the company said.
"Profit was the new growth," CFO Karen Cargill said.
"Over the 2023 financial year, there was a seismic shift in how technology companies were valued, with a premium being placed on profitability."
Black Pearl worked hard over the year to get ahead of that trend and to position itself to capitalise on it, Cargill said.
"Given the stability of the company’s servicing costs, the availability of affordable and flexible resources, and the rapid growth of BPG’s data services the board expresses strong confidence in BPG's favourable positioning to achieve substantial results in 2024 and beyond," she said.
